Integrating offsite activities related to chat and text messaging with online data records

ABSTRACT

Various systems and associated methods for tracking chats, text messages, and other user interactions. The process generates at least one identifier, distributes at least one identifier to at least one system, uses the at least one identifier to associate interactions with network-based content across different entities, whereby at least one interaction is anonymous. The method involves receiving a request sent to a database stored on a computer readable medium in response to online activity and any collected or known user information, creating a record thereof in response to the request, generating an identifier associated therewith, generating a code corresponding thereto, and using the identifier to associate an incoming text message, chat, resulting financial transactions, follow-on activities, etc. with associated online activity and user information. The association happens through remote communication with a system that receives and sends the incoming text message or chat requests.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This United States Non-Provisional Utility patent application is:

(A) a Continuation-In-Part which claims the benefit of:

-   -   U.S. Non-Provisional Utility application Ser. No. 14/854,204,        filed on Sep. 15, 2015, which is a Divisional patent application        claiming the benefit of U.S. Non-Provisional Utility application        Ser. No. 14/524,949, filed on Oct. 27, 2014, (scheduled to issue        as U.S. Pat. No. 9,137,360 on Sep. 15, 2015), which claims the        benefit of each of:    -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/041,779, filed on Aug.        26, 2014;    -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/008,031, filed on Jun. 5,        2014;    -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/974,600, filed on Apr. 3,        2014; and    -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/895,544, filed on Oct.        25, 2013; and

(B) a Non-Provisional patent application which claims the benefit of:

-   -   U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/094,259, filed on Dec.        19, 2014;    -   each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their        entireties.

FIELD OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present disclosure generally relates to a method for associating atleast two user interactions with network-based entities, where at leastone of the interactions is anonymous in nature. The method isillustrated as an implementation for Short Message Services (SMS), chatsand leads tracking and management. More particularly, the presentinvention is directed towards a method for recording information relatedto chats and text messages that are triggered or initiated fromnetwork-based content and associating the recorded information withinformation (about the sending or receiving party) collected by externalsystems, such as web analytics software, advertising platforms, or phonesystems, and managing the information.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Businesses commonly advertise through many different media in order toattract leads. Advertisements (commonly referred to as “ads”) reachcustomers by way of a variety of modalities including: online websites,printed publications, radio and television broadcasts, direct mailings,emails, and other mediums in which customers are likely to receive theads.

Increasingly, businesses are focusing their advertising efforts ononline or Internet advertisements. As online advertising spendingcontinues to climb, there is a strong interest in being able toattribute customer actions to a particular advertisement or marketingchannel. Actions that occur during a visit to a website, such assubmitting an inquiry form, downloading a file, and the like, can betracked and associated with other visitor information including: avisitor source channel, a searched keyword term, and the like. However,offline actions, such as Short Message Services (SMS), MultimediaMessaging Services (MMS), and the like (commonly referred to as textmessages), cannot typically be tracked in the same manner.

Current methods for associating text messages with visitor data involveassigning a unique telephone number to each advertisement created. Inthis scenario, if a visitor sends a text message to a business by way ofa particular telephone number, it can be assumed that the visitor viewedthe associated advertisement that displayed that specific telephonenumber. This method of associating a text message with a website visitis inefficient because it requires a business to purchase a large numberof telephone numbers such that each advertisement can be associated withits own telephone number.

Another alternative known method involves dynamically assigningforwarding telephone numbers for each visit and/or page-view. Thisalternative known method creates an increasing uncertainty when thenumber of visitors and page-views increases and/or when tracked detailsare more refined. For example, tracking keywords compared to merelytracking all visits from organic searches. This is because a finitenumber of telephone numbers are spread and recycled through anincreasing number of possible visit information combinations. Forinstance, if an interior design company merely tracked a visitor source,all visits from organic searches would be assigned the same telephonenumber. However, to track each keyword searched, a unique telephonenumber would be assigned to each phrase. Thus, “sofa upholstery” and“couch upholstery” would require different telephone numbers. Since thebusiness owns a finite pool of telephone numbers, which are dynamicallyassigned and reused, the method of dynamically assigning and reusing thetelephone numbers increases the likelihood that an identical phonenumber would be reused frequently enough to render the systemerror-prone.

Additionally, if the telephone number is displayed on multiple areas onthe web page, this method would not be capable of disclosing whichtelephone number a visitor clicked to text. Such data would be importantfor a business attempting to understand which area of the web pageattracts the attention of the visitors. To accomplish this with thecurrent method, a business would need to feature different telephonenumbers on the same page, which would be impractical.

Furthermore, the current method for associating a chat or text messagewith a website visit uses analytics collected by the SMS or a chattracking system independently, which does not connect the tracking tothe website's existing web analytics system. This approach limits theavailability of data, since the website's analytics system specializesin collecting a wide array of visitor data.

Additionally, current tracking methods interfere with the brandingefforts of businesses, as it may be desirable for customers to associatea particular business with a particular or memorable telephone number.

Furthermore, traditional tracking methods involve passing an SMS throughthe mentioned tracking numbers, which incurs charges based on the usageof the network associated with these numbers (for instance, per SMS sentor received). For a business with substantial SMS volume, the costassociated with such a setup is significant.

What is desired is a method for connecting text messages and chat datato one or more computer systems that issue user-level identifiers. Thedesired method would unleash a stream of opportunities for improvedanalytics and operations of a business.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Introduced here is technology for associating at least two standaloneuser interactions where at least one of the interactions is anonymous.Thus, a network-based entity, such as a website or mobile application,generates an identifier and associates the generated identifier withcertain user activity. The entity incorporates the identifier intoproperties that lead the user off the entity. For instance, the entitymay incorporate the identifier into a link (for example, as a querystring, a query parameter, and the like) that, when clicked or selected,leads the user to another network-based entity. When the user clicks thelink and lands at the second entity, the second entity intercepts theidentifier. The second entity then uses the identifier to request fromthe first entity all of the details collected by the first entity aboutthe user's interactions.

The technology is illustrated using a method for chat, SMS, and leadstracking and management, including a system and method for bringing SMSinto an online context, enabling the association of SMS with onlinedata. This can be accomplished by tracking SMS in a similar manner toon-website events, such as chat requests. The terms “leads” and“prospects” generally refer to prospective customers herein. Methods andsystems described herein can facilitate tracking, recording, andassociating data about the online, SMS, and offline activities of leadsor prospective customers. Advantageously, the methods described hereincan utilize a single telephone number, which can be an existingtelephone number belonging to a business, maintained by a business, ormaintained for a business.

In some embodiments, the method involves the following actions:

-   -   a. Placing “Text” buttons or links on a website of a business        (hereinafter simply “business”);    -   b. when a visitor (“User”) clicks the “Text” button or link on        the website, a request is sent to a remote database of a        tracking entity (“Tracker”);    -   c. the Tracker creates a new record in its database and        generates an identifier (ID);    -   d. the Tracker sends, or instructs the visitor's browser to        send, a tracking request labeled with the new record ID to the        website's analytics system;    -   e. optionally, based on the new record ID, the Tracker generates        a temporary shorter ID as a proxy to the original ID, and        appends it to a new SMS;    -   f. user types a message, using the SMS template created by the        Tracker;    -   g. when the SMS is sent, the Tracker parses the message body,        identifies the code, optionally uses it to retrieve the record        ID, and attributes the message to the record ID; and    -   h. the website's analytics system is queried for visit details        associated with the record ID.

The specific details, which involve repeated communications between auser's browser, website analytics system, and leads database, are morefully described below.

Various systems for tracking chats, text messages, and/or leads aredisclosed herein. The system may include one or more non-transitorycomputer readable storage mediums storing instructions that, whenexecuted by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform amethod to track activity by associating interactions acrossnetwork-based entities. A method executed by the computing system mayinclude the steps discussed with respect to any or all of theabove-described methods of tracking chats, text messages, and otherinteractions.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, theinvention consists of a tracking system comprising:

-   -   establishing a group of computers including a first computer        system, a second computer system, a third computer system, and a        fourth computer system, wherein each computer within the group        of computers is capable of exchanging data with at least one        other computer within the group of computers;    -   generating a user level identifier to identify one of a user or        a visitor, wherein the step of generating the user level        identifier is accomplished by the first computer system;    -   presenting a web page on the second computer system, wherein the        second system is in communication with the first computer        system, the web page comprising a link to initiate at least one        of a text message and a chat message;    -   appending the user level identifier to the at least one of the        text message and the chat message initiation link in the second        computer system;    -   receiving data introduced into the at least one of the text        message and the chat message using the second computer system to        complete the at least one of the text message and the chat        message;    -   creating a record comprising the entered data and the respective        user level identifier associated with the completed at least one        of the text message and the chat message in the third computer        system;    -   appending information to the record using the fourth computer        system, wherein the information is collected from sources other        than a website hosting the at least one of the text message and        the chat message initiation link; and    -   using the user level identifier to communicate the entered data        associated with the completed at least one of the text message        and the chat message from the third computer system to the first        computer system.

In a second aspect, the at least one of the plurality of computers ischaracterized by at least one of the following:

-   -   wherein the first computer system is characterized as a data        management company,    -   wherein the second computer system is characterized as a user's        computer system,    -   wherein the third computer system is characterized as an inquiry        management system,    -   wherein the fourth computer system is characterized as an agent        computer system having an agent entering data thereto.

In another aspect, the at least one of the plurality of computers ischaracterized by at least one of the following:

-   -   wherein the group of computers includes a plurality of first        computer systems;    -   wherein the group of computers includes a plurality of third        computer systems, the same at least one of the text message and        the chat message being communicated to at least two of the        plurality of third computer systems;    -   wherein the group of computers includes a plurality of fourth        computer systems, each of the plurality of fourth computer        systems acquiring information by at least one of:        -   (a) different agents, wherein each agent of the different            agents manually entering information into a respective            fourth computer system of the plurality of fourth computer            systems;        -   (b) automatically, wherein at least one of the fourth            computer system of the fourth computer systems automatically            acquires the information; and        -   (c) automatically, wherein at least one of the fourth            computer system of the fourth computer systems automatically            receives the information.

In yet another aspect, the at least one of the plurality of computers ischaracterized by at least one of the following:

-   -   wherein the first computer system is selected from a group of        first computers, the group comprising:        -   (a) an advertising platform,        -   (b) a data management platform,        -   (c) a publishing service,        -   (d) a content management system,        -   (e) a content optimization service, or        -   (f) a generic computer system that issues user-level            identifiers;    -   wherein the second computer system is characterized as a user's        computer system;    -   wherein the third computer system is selected from a group of        third computers, the group comprising:        -   (a) a customer relationship management system,        -   (b) an email marketing system,        -   (c) a marketing automation system,        -   (d) a text messaging management system,        -   (e) a chat messaging management system, and        -   (f) a generic system used to track and record information            about incoming inquiries and ensuing activity;    -   wherein the fourth computer system is selected from a group of        fourth computers, the group comprising:        -   (a) a computer or mobile device having information entered            manually by an agent,        -   (b) a computer or mobile device having information entered            automatically, and a computer or mobile device receiving            information automatically.            In yet another aspect, the method further comprises steps            of:    -   defining the record comprising the entered data and the        respective user level identifier associated with the completed        at least one of the text message and the chat message in the        third computer system as an original record;    -   creating a subsequent record based upon the original record;    -   associating the created subsequent record with the originally        generated record; and    -   using the user level identifier to communicate the entered data        associated with the subsequent record from the third computer        system to the first computer system.

In yet another aspect, the first computer system comprises a pluralityof first computer systems, the method further comprises steps of:

-   -   referencing the user level identifier as a first user level        identifier;    -   generating at least one second user level identifier to identify        a same one of the user or the visitor, wherein the step of        generating the at least one second user level identifier is        accomplished by any of the first computer systems of the        plurality of first computer systems; and    -   appending each of the at least one second user level identifier        to the at least one of the text message and the chat message.

In yet another aspect, the step of appending the user level identifierto the at least one of the text message and the chat message isaccomplished by appending the user level identifier as one of:

-   -   (a) a prefix of a data string generated from the at least one of        the text message and the chat message;    -   (b) an intermediary segment of a data string generated from the        at least one of the text message and the chat message; or    -   (c) a suffix of a data string generated from the at least one of        the text message and the chat message.

In yet another aspect, the method further comprises steps of:

-   -   locating the user level identifier associated with the tracking        identifier; and    -   using the user level identifier to communicate the retrieved        data to the first computer system.

In accordance with a first variant of the present invention, theinvention consists of a tracking system comprising:

-   -   establishing a group of computers including a first computer        system, a second computer system, a third computer system, a        fourth computer system, and a fifth computer system, wherein        each computer within the group of computers is capable of        exchanging data with at least one other computer within the        group of computers;    -   generating a user level identifier to identify one of a user or        a visitor, wherein the step of generating the user level        identifier is accomplished by the first computer system;    -   communicating the user level identifier from the first computer        system to the fifth computer system;    -   generating a tracking identifier, wherein the tracking        identifier is generated by the fifth computer system;    -   defining and managing an association between the tracking        identifier and the user level identifier;    -   presenting a web page on the second computer system, wherein the        second system is in communication with the first computer        system, the web page comprising a link to initiate a at least        one of a text message and a chat message;    -   appending the tracking identifier to the at least one of a text        message and a chat message initiation link in the second        computer system;    -   receiving data entered into the at least one of the text message        and the chat message initiation link using the second computer        system to complete the at least one of the text message and the        chat message;    -   creating a record comprising the entered data and the respective        tracking identifier associated with the completed at least one        of the text message and the chat message in the third computer        system;    -   appending information to the record using the fourth computer        system, wherein the information is collected from sources other        than a website hosting the text message initiation link;    -   using the tracking identifier to retrieve the entered data        associated with the completed text message from the third        computer system;    -   locating the user level identifier associated with the tracking        identifier; and    -   using the user level identifier to communicate the retrieved        data to the first computer system.

In accordance with a second variant of the present invention, theinvention consists of a tracking system comprising:

-   -   defining the record comprising the entered data and the        respective tracking identifier associated with the completed        text message in the third computer system as an original record;    -   creating a subsequent record based upon the original record;    -   associating the created subsequent record with the originally        generated record; and    -   using the user level identifier to communicate the entered data        associated with the subsequent record from the third computer        system to the first computer system.

These and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become more readily apparent from the attached drawingsand the detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described inconjunction with the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not tolimit the invention, in which:

FIG. 1 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a chat session through the browser;

FIG. 2 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation;

FIG. 3 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation with an external leads managementsystem;

FIG. 4 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation utilizing an external leadsmanagement system and an alternate web analytics system;

FIG. 5 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation and associating the informationwith activity in other network-based entities;

FIG. 6 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation and enabling adjustment offollow-on advertising based on data collected during the text messageconversation and thereafter;

FIG. 7 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a chat conversation and enabling adjustment of follow-onadvertising based on data collected during the chat and thereafter;

FIG. 8 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation and importing of conversion data toa remote system, such as an advertising platform;

FIG. 9 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation where a text message originatesfrom network content other than a business' website;

FIG. 10 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a for tracking atext message conversation with forwarding to multiple telephone numbersand using SMS as a way of appending notes about the conversation;

FIG. 11 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation with data about text-promptingelements being collected and processed into visual reports;

FIG. 12 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation with recording data about financialtransactions occurring during and/or after the conversation;

FIG. 13 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation, and using SMS to record data aboutfinancial transactions occurring during and/or after the conversation;

FIG. 14 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation using remote communication;

FIG. 15 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation using remote communication, where atext message originates from network content other than a business'website;

FIG. 16 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method fortracking a text message conversation where custom-collected informationis attached to the conversation; and

FIG. 17 presents an exemplary high-level schematic diagram of a computersystem representative of any of the various computing devices describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the exemplaryembodiments. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Theterms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to bibliographical meanings or any extrinsic dictionarydefinition, but are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear andconsistent understanding of the disclosure. The terms used herein mustbe understood based on the descriptions made herein, and are definedherein according to the functions of the present disclosure. Those ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes andmodifications of the embodiments described herein can be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Descriptions ofwell-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity andconciseness.

The following terms are used throughout this description with thefollowing meanings:

A “Business” refers to a person, establishment or other entity thatadvertises to attract leads.

A “Target Website” refers to a website that a Business maintains on oneor more server computers. A Target Website may display a telephonenumber such that a visitor to the Target Website can send a text messageto Business via the telephone number displayed on the Target Website.

A “user” refers to a person who visits the Target Website or accessesany other network-based content (for example, a marketing property) ofBusiness.

A “Tracker” refers to at least one of an entity and a service, whereinthe Tracker is typically external to a Business. The Tracker tracks andassociates data related to user activity from accessing network-basedcontent of Business. In general, the Tracker can adapt to any externalsystem or service that the Target Website selects, provided that suchsystem has a public-facing Application Programming Interface (“API”)that allows for remote calls for retrieval, additions, recording, and/oralterations of data. In some embodiments the Tracker can also (orinstead) associate data collected after a User's interaction withBusiness (for example, data relating to a purchase following a textmessage conversation) with data related to the User having accessednetwork-based content of a Business (for example, a website). TheTracker can communicate with other systems (for example, CommunicationsProvider, Capable Entity, Lead Manager, Chat Software, AnalyticsAccount, Advertising Account, Foreign Domain, and the like) by way ofHTTP POST requests, HTTP GET requests, and the like or a combinationthereof.

A “Lead Manager” is one example of an external service referred toabove, e.g., a leads management system. Examples of suitable leadsmanagement systems can include those provided by FUTURE SIMPLE,SALESFORCE, and the like. A similar example is a message managementdashboard utilized by a support center, such as CONTACTATONCE.

A “Chat Software” is another example of an external service referred toabove, e.g., a provider of software that allows web visitors tocommunicate with Business via a chat window presented on the TargetWebsite. Examples of such software programs can include those providedby LIVECHAT, LIVEPERSON, and the like.

A “Communications Provider” refers to a communications service thatenables forwarding incoming text messages to pages of code. Possibleexamples of a Communications Provider include TWILIO, PLIVO andBANDWIDTH.

A “Tracking Number” is a number that Business can maintain atCommunications Provider. A Tracking Number can be a general number foronline inquiries, and can be configured to generically forward textmessages if no code is identified. Alternatively, the Target Website canmaintain a telephone number outside of Communications Provider, and canhave all text messages forwarded to a designated Tracking Number atCommunications Provider.

An “Analytics Account” is an account of an analytics tool/system ofBusiness, which is another example of an external service referred toabove; and an example of such an analytics tool/system is GOOGLEANALYTICS.

An “Advertising Account” is an account with an online advertisingplatform, which is another example of an external service referred toabove; and an example of such an online advertising platform is GOOGLEADWORDS. The advertising platform can be, for example, any advertisingplatform that can accept remote requests and/or imported conversions inthe form of file uploads, for example. The advertising platform can alsorefer to a media-buying platform that incorporates information about aUser's activity into its algorithms.

A “Tracking Cookie” is a cookie that can be used to track onlineactivity. A Tracking Cookie can be associated with an analytics tool,such as that provided by GOOGLE ANALYTICS or the like, where the cookiecan be the utma or utmb cookie utilized by GOOGLE ANALYTICS. The _utmacookie values are used to distinguish users and sessions and are createdwhen a JAVASCRIPT library executes and no existing _utma cookies exist.The _utma cookie is updated every time data is sent to GOOGLE ANALYTICS.The _utmb cookie values are used to determine new sessions/visits andare created when the JAVASCRIPT library executes and no existing _utmbcookies exist. The _utmb cookie is updated every time data is sent toGOOGLE ANALYTICS. Alternatively, a Tracking Cookie can be associatedwith an advertising platform, such as that provided by GOOGLE ADWORDS orthe like, where the cookie would be the globally unique trackingparameter or GOOGLE Click Identifier (“gclid”) utilized by GOOGLEADWORDS. A Tracking Cookie can have a Tracking Cookie value that can beused to distinguish among Users and sessions. Such cookies can becreated when at least one of (a) the JAVASCRIPT library executes and (b)when no existing tracking cookies exist.

Note that, although the methods introduced here are described as usingGOOGLE ANALYTICS, any other cookie-based analytics system that usesunique values to identify the Users and visits and that can be queriedfor visitor details associated with a label could be substituted. Themethods can also be modified to accommodate an analytics system thatdoes not utilize cookies and instead relies on user-specific profile IDsor a similar unique variable to identify a user, provided that theprofile ID can be retrieved and queried remotely and that subsequentinformation associated with the profile ID can be recorded remotely.

A “Remote Tracking Request” refers to a request sent from a server tothe Analytics Account using the Tracking Cookie value.

An “Operator” is an employee or agent of a Business, whether real orvirtual, handling lead management on behalf of the Business.

A “Foreign Domain” is an online property, other than the Target Website,where Business can display a telephone number, such as a classified adswebsite (e.g. Craigslist).

An “Element ID” is an identifying attribute of a text-prompting button,link, or other HTML element.

A “Capable Entity” is Business with a system capable of collectingincoming text messages and communicating the information to an externalsystem via the Internet. Such a system can be managed internally byBusiness or outsourced to a provider of such systems. Note that certainCommunications Providers can also qualify as Capable Entity.

In the exemplary flow diagram illustrated in FIG. 1, the User canexecute an action at step 10 that takes the User to the Target Website,such as clicking on an ad, clicking on a search link, or clicking on areferring link, etc. Next a request can be sent to the Tracker once theTarget Website has loaded at step 12. The request can be sent from theUser's browser to the Tracker, using a JAVASCRIPT snippet that Businessadds to a Target Website's code. The JAVASCRIPT can reference code onthe Target Website or the Tracker. Alternatively, the Target Website canmake a server-side request to the Tracker as soon as the User's browsersends a request to load pages from the Target Website, before the TargetWebsite has actually loaded at the User's browser.

At step 14, the Tracker can create a new lead record in the TargetWebsite's leads database table and can send back a record identificationcode to the User's browser. The record identification code (or recordID) mentioned herein assists the Tracker in uniquely identifying therecord in its database. The User's browser can receive the recordidentification code at step 16 and can send a request to the AnalyticsAccount. If the Analytics Account used were GOOGLE ANALYTICS, therequest can be a trackEvent request labeled with the recordidentification code. The User's browser can then send a request toappend the record identification code to Chat Software at step 18. Atstep 20, Chat Software can notify the Tracker that the User activates achat window. Note that depending on Chat Software, certain softwareincludes this step while other software excludes this step, and themethod can simply skip to the next step instead. The Tracker can thenconnect to the Analytics Account and query for all visitor detailsassociated with the request labeled with the record identification codeat step 22. Using the chat ID, visitor ID, or token provided by ChatSoftware, the Tracker can communicate this information to Chat Softwareat step 24. At step 26, the Operator can see all the visitor detailsnext to the chat request in the Chat Software dashboard.

There are several alternatives to sending the request referenced in step16. In one scenario, the Tracker can utilize an identifier that hasalready been created. For instance, the Tracker can collect a TrackingCookie and use this value in lieu of generating the Tracker's recordidentification code.

Another possibility can involve submitting the tracking data togetherwith the chat request at step 24. The code can populate the availabledata into a database of the Tracker or another system, such as LeadManager. Note that in this alternative, data related to accessingnetwork-based content is limited to the information available andcollected at the time of the connection request (e.g., informationspecific to the connection request cannot be collected later). This canbe remedied by collecting and submitting a Tracking Cookie with theconnection request, and later using the Tracking Cookie to send a RemoteTracking Request that incorporates a record identification code, whichwould then permit retrieving information specific to the record at theexternal system via another remote request.

Yet another scenario can involve the Tracker establishing its owntracking data, which can be submitted together with the connectionrequest at step 24. This data can be associated with an identifiergenerated by the Tracker, such as a Tracking Cookie, or a pre-specifiedidentifier such as an IP address. If the data is associated with anidentifier, the Tracker can elect to send only the identifier at step24, and use that identifier to retrieve additional data later.

In any scenario where data is available prior to the connection request,the Tracker can utilize the data to route the connection request. Forinstance, the Tracker can decide to route a connection requestassociated with a visit from a web search to a certain destination(e.g., network locator), and a connection request associated with avisit from a banner ad to another destination (e.g., network locator).As a result, the chat request can be routed to a specific Operator,using the User's activity to optimize this process. If the Trackerelects to use the data to assign records to a specific Operator, theTracker can follow rules pre-specified by Business.

In another variant, the method can be applied to track SMS messages,following the flow chart illustrated in FIG. 2. The User can execute anaction at step 100 that takes the User to the Target Website, such asclicking on an ad, clicking on a search link, or clicking on a referringlink, etc. At step 102, upon entering website, the User can see an empty“text now” link. When the User clicks the link at step 104, a requestcan be sent to the Tracker. The request can be sent from the User'sbrowser to the Tracker, using a JAVASCRIPT snippet that Business adds tothe Target Website's code. The JAVASCRIPT can reference code on theTarget Website or the Tracker. Alternatively, the Target Website canmake a server-side request to the Tracker as soon as the User's browsersends a request to load pages from the Target Website, before the TargetWebsite has actually loaded at the User's browser. Then, at step 106,the Tracker can create a new blank lead record, and can generate arecord identification code associated with the lead record.

In step 108, the Tracker can store the record identification code in atemporary table and assigns to it a temporary proxy code, which can be ashorter, single-digit, such as “1.” The record identification code,Tracking Number, and the proxy code can then be sent to the User'sbrowser. The User's browser can receive the record identification codeat step 110, and can send a request to the Analytics Account, such as atrackEvent request to GOOGLE ANALYTICS, labeled with the recordidentification code. Using JAVASCRIPT, the Tracker can then instruct theUser's browser to populate the “text now” link with the Tracking Numberand temporary code at step 112. In step 114, the User's phone can switchto the phone's native SMS application, or a default one used to handletext messages, and the temporary code can be inserted at the beginningof the message body. For instance, the message can be pre-populated withthe words “Ref #1”. The User can type the text message following thewords and tap “Send” at step 116. At step 118, the text message can besent to the Tracking Number, can be received by Communications Provider,and can be forwarded to a page of code (e.g., a page in a server-sideprogramming language, for example, PHP) at the Tracker that can parsethe message body, extracting the temporary code.

In step 120, the Tracker can search the Tracker's database for thetemporary code, locate the record identification code, associate thetext message with the record identification code, and delete the recordidentification code and the temporary code from the temporary table,making the temporary code available for re-use by the system. TheTracker can then associate the rest of the text message body (e.g.,everything after the temporary code) with the record in step 122. Atstep 124, the Tracker can connect to the Analytics Account and query forall visitor details related to the request labeled with the recordidentification code. Finally, in step 126, the Tracker can utilize theinformation obtained from the Analytics Account to automatically routethe text message to a specific Operator. In this process, the Trackercan follow preset rules defined by Business.

In another variant, the method can be adapted to integrate with any LeadManager, as shown in exemplary flow diagram illustrated in FIG. 3.Herein, the Tracker acts as an interpreter between Lead Manager,Communications Provider, and the Analytics Account. The Tracker cangenerate an ID or record identification code, send the code to both LeadManager and Analytics Account, and forward the text message to Business.In the exemplary flow diagram of FIG. 3, steps 150-154 are similar tosteps 100-104 described in FIG. 2. At step 156, the Tracker can send a“create” request to Lead Manager, such as SALESFORCE, which can return arecord identification code. This record identification code can then beused in lieu of the Tracker's own record identification code.Alternatively, the Tracker can still generate the Tracker's own recordidentification code, and associate Lead Manager's record identificationcode with the Tracker's identification code. Steps 158-170 are similarto steps 108-120 in FIG. 2. In step 172, the Tracker can connect to theAnalytics Account and retrieve all details associated with the requestfrom step 160 (similar to step 122). In addition, the Tracker canpopulate the record at Lead Manager with the information obtained fromthe Analytics Account. For example, if the Lead Manager were SALESFORCE,the Tracker can populate the “Campaign” object in SALESFORCE.

Another exemplary flow diagram describing the technology introducedherein is illustrated in FIG. 4. In the exemplary flow diagramillustrated in FIG. 4, the method is illustrated using an alternateanalytics software. Instead of using GOOGLE ANALYTICS as described abovein FIG. 3, the method can use SALESFORCE as the Lead Manager and CLICKYANALYTICS as the Analytics Account. In the illustrated embodiment, steps250-258 are similar to steps 150-158 in FIG. 3. At step 260, the Trackercan send a request to the Analytics Account labeled with theidentification code, such as a log request titled with theidentification code to CLICKY ANALYTICS. The remaining steps, 262-272,are similar to steps 162-172 in FIG. 3.

Yet another exemplary flow diagram describing the technology introducedherein is illustrated in FIG. 5, more specifically, a system that tracksand associates activity across the SMS and mobile browser applications.In the exemplary flow diagram illustrated in FIG. 5, the method can beadapted to associate multiple user interactions across differententities where at least one of the interactions is anonymous. An entitycan be any form of managed network-based content, such as a website oran application. An anonymous interaction refers to one where the User isnot personally identified, for instance, by entering user-specificinformation such as an e-mail address. Note that the anonymity of aninteraction can also be measured by its scope. Thus, apersonally-identified interaction with one entity can be anonymous toanother entity. For instance, the interaction of a logged-in Userbrowsing products inside a clothing brand's mobile-device application ispersonally identified to the operator of the application. However, whenthe User clicks to call, e-mail, or send a text message to the brand'ssupport team, the User's device will navigate to another application,such as the phone, e-mail, or SMS application of the device. From theperspective of any of the phone, e-mail, or SMS applications, as well asthe brand's support system, the User's preceding interaction with theclothing brand's application is anonymous. Similarly, to the clothingbrand's application operator, the User's interaction with the phone,e-mail, or SMS applications, as well as the brand's support system, isanonymous.

The exemplary flow diagram illustrated in FIG. 5 enables linking suchtwo interactions by issuing a common identifier. In this embodiment, anentity (such as an application) can collect information about userinteractions with the properties such entity operates, and can associateit with an identifier. The identifier can be issued by the entity or athird party. The entity can attach the identifier to any activity thatleads the User outside of the entity-operated properties, for instance,by appending the identifier to the URLs of outgoing links as a querystring parameter. When the User clicks the URL and is led to a secondentity, the second entity can infer the identifier and use it to requestfrom the first entity all of the information the first entity collectedabout the User. Further, the second entity can also embed the sameidentifier to continue tracking the User's activity across additionalentities.

Steps 300-320, introduced in FIG. 5, are similar to steps 100-120 fromFIG. 2. In step 322, the Operator can reply to the User, embedding inthe message a link to open Business' mobile application. Note that theOperator can also communicate with the User through e-mail messages. TheTracker can append the record ID to the link, for instance, by appendingit to as a query string parameter, and can forward the message to theUser's phone. If the User's device is running the iOs operating systemfrom APPLE, the link can be: trackedAppName://?identifier, User12345.

Note that the link can also be an HTML link that redirects to adevice-specific link. This can be accomplished using the browser's“window:location” Javascript command. An HTML link can be minimized witha URL shortening service, creating a user-friendly link that can beinserted in text messages, which often have limited character length.For instance, the HTML link corresponding to the example native linkgiven above can be,http://tracker.com/?app=trackedAppName&identifier=User12345. In step324, the User clicks the link and the application opens on the User'sphone. The entity operating the application infers the identifier anduses it to request from the Tracker details about the User'sconversation with the Operator in step 326. Note that entity can alsoembed the identifier in outgoing URLs, thereby passing it forward toother entities. In addition, the entity can use the information obtainedfrom the Tracker to record information about the source of the visit inentity's activity tracking system.

In yet another embodiment, the system can be modified to enablesophisticated remarketing efforts. Specifically, Business can createremarketing lists associated with pre-specified criteria within itsAnalytics Account, such as event categories in GOOGLE ANALYTICS. TheTracker can store the Tracking Cookie values associated with the visitthat triggers a text message together with the new lead record, and canuse those values to send a Remote Tracking Request to the AnalyticsAccount at a later date, such as when the Operator marks a lead recordas “Converted” in the Tracker's dashboard. Essentially, this allowsBusiness to record information about leads, such as purchases, in amanner similar to e-commerce transactions, even if the actual saleoccurs days, weeks or months later, and without any action taken by thelead. When the request registers, the lead's cookie information isautomatically added to the pre-specified remarketing list, just as ifthe lead took a pre-specified action on the Target Website. Using acombination of such lists, Business can then segment for targetedadvertising the customers that called but never converted. Examples ofthe method are outlined in FIG. 6 for text messages, and FIG. 7 for chatrequests.

In both methods, the system can be modified to include remarketing tags,which enable adding visitors to lists that enable targeted marketing.For instance, events with different action categories can be added atdifferent times throughout the interaction, e.g. when a text isinitiated, a conversation has ended, etc. This adds the prospects torelated lists, and enables targeting, for example, users who attemptedbut never sent a text message. Further, by storing a visitor's TrackingCookie values, such as the _utma or ga cookie values utilized by GOOGLEANALYTICS, the system can also automatically add “Converted” events whenthe Operator tags lead records as such, which in the Analytics Accountwould be associated with the original visits that triggered an action.This would allow Business to segment for advertising visitors atdifferent stages of the customer lifecycle and connect online behaviorpatterns to offline interactions. Note that although the methods aredescribed using GOOGLE ANALYTICS and cookies, that the same methods canbe implemented using any identifier that distinguishes users and/orsessions, on any device.

An embodiment of this method is illustrated in FIG. 6. In step 350,Business can create in the Analytics Account a separate remarketing listfor each request type, for example, a separate remarketing list for eachevent category in GOOGLE ANALYTICS. Steps 352-370 are similar to steps152-170 in FIG. 3. At step 372, the Tracker can utilize the storedTracking Cookie value to send a Remote Tracking Request to the AnalyticsAccount, which can be labeled with the record identification code. Forexample, the Tracker can send a server-side trackEvent request to GOOGLEANALYTICS, categorized “Text Sent” and labeled with the recordidentification code. Note that the request at step 360 can alsoalternatively occur as a server-side request, using the Tracking Cookievalue stored in step 356. In step 374, when the Operator later tags thelead record “Converted” in the Tracker dashboard, the Tracker can usethe stored Tracking Cookie to send another Remote Tracking Request,which can be labeled with the record identification code. For example,the Tracker can send a server-side trackEvent request to GOOGLEANALYTICS, categorized “Converted” and labeled with the recordidentification code. As with each of the previous tracking requests,this can cause the visitor cookie to automatically be added to theassociated remarketing list, at step 376, and using these lists,Business can then create new lists with custom combinations, e.g. “TextSent” but not “Converted.”

The remarketing method can also be adapted to the chat trackingmethodology as illustrated in FIG. 1. An embodiment is illustrated inFIG. 7. Step 400 is similar to step 300 in FIG. 6. Steps 410-420 aresimilar to steps 10-20 from FIG. 1, with the initial request to theAnalytics Account sent only when the User initiates a chat, as analternative. Note that this request can also occur as a server-siderequest, similar to the request in step 360 from FIG. 6 outlined above.At step 422, when the chat ends, the Tracker can receive a notificationfrom Chat Software with the record ID. The Tracker can use the record IDto locate the associated Tracking Cookie at step 424. At step 426, theTracker can use the Tracking Cookie to send a Remote Tracking Request tothe Analytics Account, which can be labeled with the recordidentification code. For example, the Tracker can send a server-sidetrackEvent request to GOOGLE ANALYTICS, categorized “Chat Completed” andlabeled with the record identification code. Steps 428-430 are similarto steps 374-376 in FIG. 6.

The remarketing method can be adapted to work with any Lead Manager.This can be accomplished by creating a custom field for each lead recordthat stores the Tracking Cookie, along with a custom “Status” fieldthat, when changed, will trigger the Tracker to send to the AnalyticsAccount a Remote Tracking Request. Alternatively, the Tracker can querythe external leads system in regular intervals (e.g., hourly or daily)and send a Remote Tracking Request for any updated or newly taggedrecords. Moreover, the method can be adapted to track information onattributes other than a lead's conversion status that Business couldpossess, such as indicated interests in a specific service category ordemographic information.

Furthermore, the method can be adapted to other types of user lists thatinvolve a recordable action taken on a website, such as newslettersignups. Thus, Business can choose to track and create specializedadvertising for leads that sign up for a sports newsletter and indicatea specific interest in soccer, using lists from its e-mail marketingsoftware, such as MAILCHIMP. The method can also be adapted to recordoffline actions taken by leads, such as a meeting with Business. In allof these cases, sending the data to any external account, such as anAnalytics Account or an Advertising Account, can assist in adjustingfollow-on advertising, personalizing an experience (including content),or simply facilitate Business' efforts in analyzing how online behaviorcorrelates with offline activity.

The method can also be used for other purposes. For instance, when theUser revisits the Target Website, the Target Website can collect theUser's Tracking Cookie and send it to the Tracker. The Tracker wouldthen search its database for a match, and communicate to the TargetWebsite information about the User's previous activity, as well as anyapplied tags, sales, and other pertinent data. The Target Website canthen utilize the information as needed, whether to adjust content,communicate activity to other systems, and the like.

Furthermore, the method can also be adapted to an automated scenariothat does not require direct the Operator intervention in order torecord information about leads. This would typically involve additionalsystems. For instance, using text recognition technology, the method canautomatically detect a lead's expressed interest in a specific productor service, and create and send tags based on this information.Alternatively, using machine learning or other algorithms, the Trackercan automatically read information entered by the Operator in a leadrecord, and create and send tags based on this information.

The system can be further adapted to record chats and text messages asconversions in an Advertising Account by recording the correspondingTracking Cookie, such as the globally unique tracking parameter orGOOGLE Click Identifier (“gclid”) associated with GOOGLE ADWORDS. WithGOOGLE ADWORDS, recording the gclid parameter enables the system togenerate a MICROSOFT EXCEL, or similar spreadsheet software, file thatcan be imported as offline conversions into the GOOGLE ADWORDS account.Prior to generating the file, the Operator can manually delete withinthe system any records that do not qualify as conversions, such aspromotional messages. One such embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 8.

At step 550 in FIG. 8, Business can create in Advertising Account aconversion for text messages, such as an offline conversion type named“Text Message” in GOOGLE ADWORDS. Steps 552-572 are similar to steps100-120 in FIG. 2, with the GCLID as the Tracking Cookie sent in step556 and stored in step 558. At step 572, the Tracker can record thecurrent time as the conversion time, in addition to associating the textmessage with the record ID and deleting the temporary code, making thecode available for re-use. The Operator can review the text message logat step 574, decides which conversations should qualify as conversions,and mark all the conversations to be reported. At step 576, the Trackercan generate a file that can be imported into the Advertising Account.In the case of GOOGLE ADWORDS, this can be an EXCEL file with the gclid,conversion name (e.g., “Text Message”) and time of each conversion fromthe database. The Operator can import the file into the AdvertisingAccount. This methodology results in step 478, with Advertising Accountconversion reports having more complete data associated with each ad,incorporating different conversion types, such as “offline conversions”in GOOGLE ADWORDS. A similar methodology can be applied to chatconversations, as well.

Further to the description of FIG. 8, when displaying the sources ofvisits associated with text messages and/or chats, the Tracker canaggregate identical ads to provide a more insightful performance report.Specifically, the Tracker can query the Advertising Accountperiodically, obtaining the ads' content and targeting metrics. Thesecan be matched against the Tracker's existing information. Within theTracker's database, IDs of multiple ads with identical content andtargeting metrics can be given a single master ad ID, stored togetherwith the ad content and targeting metrics. When the Tracker retrievesvisitor source information from external systems, each text message orchat record can be associated with the master ad ID of the ad ID thatwas clicked (rather than the ad ID itself). A similar process isperformed on the search queries entered by the User that triggered thead impressions: the system can maintain a phrases table with an IDassigned to each phrase, and can attempt to match new search queriesobtained from the analytics system against existing values. If a phrasematches an existing record, the phrase ID is associated with the record;otherwise, a new phrase record and ID can be created. In addition toreducing duplication, pairing this indexing of ads and keywords withUser tags helps discover patterns, e.g. the ad-keyword combinations thatgenerate the most revenue.

Yet another embodiment enables tracking text messages that originate onForeign Domain. An example of such an embodiment is illustrated in FIG.9. This method is useful for analyzing activity from off-site marketingproperties, by tracking text messages originating in clicks on an adplaced in Foreign Domain, such as classifieds websites (e.g.Craigslist). Business can create a new ad record in a central databaseoperated by the Tracker at step 700, specifying the domain name on whichthe ad will run, e.g. craigslist.org. The Tracker can store each ad atstep 702, which has a record/ad ID with a corresponding URI, whichpoints to a webpage. The URL is based on the ad II) and a TargetWebsite's username. An example URL can be,www.tracker.com/offsite-tracking?username=TargetWebsite&adID=5. Businesscan add the URL to the ad HTML, such as inserting it into a “Text Us”link within the ad, and can post the ad on Foreign Domain, such ascraigslist.org, at step 704.

The User can visit the third party website, see the ad, and Like actionby clicking the “Text Us” link at step 706. The URL can verify that thereferrer information matches the domain entered by Business, and onceopen, a JAVASCRIPT snippet can intercept the ad ID and the TargetWebsite's username. The snippet can initiate a request with the ad IDand the Target Website's username to the Tracker at step 708. At step710, the Tracker can proceed to create a new lead record associated withthe ad ID and the Target Website, and assign a record identificationnumber, at step 710. The remaining steps, 712-724 are similar to steps108-1.20 in FIG. 2. The Tracker can also initiate a Remote TrackingRequest to the Analytics Account, indicating that a text message fromForeign Domain has occurred. Alternatively, Business can generate a QRcode that points to the URL, and feature it on a print ad. When scannedwith a mobile device, the User's browser can be automatically redirectedto the URL, creating a “scan-to-text” functionality similar to the“click-to-text” outlined above.

Another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, forwards the incoming text fromthe User to multiple Operators and connects the User with the firstOperator that answers. This embodiment also allows the Operator toassociate text messages with visitor data by communicating with theTracker using SMS. Note that although these two features are describedin a single embodiment, they are modularly independent. Steps 1100-1120are similar to steps 100-120 in FIG. 2. At step 1122, the Tracker caninstruct Communications Provider to forward the User's text to all ofthe telephone numbers of Operators associated with Business. At step1124, when one of the Operators replies, the Tracker can record thatOperator's number, and communicate all further incoming text messagesfrom the User only to that Operator's telephone number. Further, at step1126, the Operator can send the Tracker a text message with the recordidentification code and a few notes. For instance, the Operator cantype, “Ref #1 needs follow-up on Tuesday.” At step 1128, the Tracker canreceive the text, use a method similar to step 1116 to parse the messagebody and collect the temporary code, identify the associated recordidentification code, and can then proceed to use the code to associatethe remaining portion of the text message body with the text messageconversation, which can be displayed as a note in the Tracker dashboard.

When generating the temporary code, the Tracker can insert designatedSpecial Symbols (e.g., one or more symbols, characters, or digits). Thiswould allow the Tracker to issue the same short temporary code to morethan one party simultaneously, provided that in each additionalsimultaneous instance a Special Symbol, such as # or *, is appended tothe code. For example, the Tracker can maintain temporary codes tablefor interactions on devices running the iOs operating system by APPLEand another temporary codes table for devices running the Anroidoperating system by GOOGLE. To differentiate interactions, the Trackercan append or prepend a key to a generated code for iOs-deviceinteractions, while Anroid-device interactions codes can be appended adifferent key, or no key (or vice versa). Thus, the Tracker can assignthe code “1” to two distinct interactions simultaneously, in the form of“1” and “1#”.

When analyzing the code, the Tracker can look for the Special Symbol,and can use the Special Symbol to determine the appropriate table tosearch for the temporary code. Alternatively, the Tracker can store allcodes in a single table, utilizing one or more Special Symbols simply toenable use of otherwise identical temporary codes simultaneously. Withthe Special Symbols implemented, a temporary code of a certain number ofdigits can be used to track a larger number of simultaneousinteractions, thereby improving scalability (e.g., a 3-digit code lengthwithout Special Symbols can track up to 999 simultaneous interactions; a3-digit code with Special Symbols appended or prepended can track amultiple of this number).

In yet another embodiment of the technology, collected data can beaggregated into visual analytics reports. As shown in FIG. 11, in step3100, the User can take an action that takes the User to the TargetWebsite. For example, the User can click on an ad, a search link, or ona referring link, etc. to direct the User to the Target Website. Several“text” links, buttons, or a combination thereof can be loaded on thepage at the Target Website at step 3102. Each such “text” button or linkelement can have an Element ID, for instance, by altering the IDattribute of the <a> HTML link tag. This Element ID attribute can bedefined in the HTML or attached dynamically through JAVASCRIPT code.When the User clicks any of the elements at step 3104, a JAVASCRIPT canexecute, collecting the clicked link or button Element ID as well as thecurrent page URL and sending it to the Tracker. The Tracker can create anew blank record in its database, associated with the Target Website,populate it with the Element ID and page URL, and can generate a recordID at step 3106. Steps 3108-3120 are similar to steps 108-120 in FIG. 2.

In step 3122, the Tracker retrieves the HTML code of each page URL thatis associated with at least one record in its database. This can beachieved by querying the records for unique values of page URLs,provided that these have been standardized (e.g., cleaned of prefixessuch as http, https, or www, as well as webpage file extensions, GETvariables, and the like). To retrieve the HTML code, the Tracker caninitiate a cURL request to the appropriate URL at the Target Website. Asdescribed in step 3124, the Tracker can use the HTML code retrieved instep 3122 to display a simulated version of the webpage, with an overlayvisualizing the click popularity of each “text” element. This would becalculated by summing the number of text message or chat recordsassociated with each Element ID over a specified time period. theTracker can then utilize a color scale to visually indicate thepopularity of each Element ID in triggering interactions. For instance,the scale can vary from red to blue, with the most frequently clickedelements colored in red, and the least frequently clicked elementscolored in blue.

Another embodiment, shown in FIG. 12, allows the Operator to associatefinancial transactions resulting from text messages or chats withvisitor information. This is accomplished by entering information in asystem that interprets the data into a format suitable for sending to awebsite analytics system, where such data is associated with the visitorinformation. Steps 3200-3220 are similar to steps 100-120 in FIG. 2.During the text message and chat conversation, or following, the systemcan display the record to the Operator in a UI. The Operator can use theUI to enter information obtained during the conversation, for instance,the amount of sale revenue generated. Alternatively, the Operator canreturn to the record at a later date to enter a sale amount, when such atransaction actually closed. To locate the correct record, the Operatorcan read to the original text message conversation, refer to informationautomatically entered by the Tracker (such as the lead's telephonenumber), or consult information entered by the Operator during theoriginal conversation or at a later date, such as the User's name andany relevant notes.

When the Operator enters the sale revenue, the Tracker can use theTracking Cookie value to send a Remote Tracking Request associating atransaction with the original visitor data that triggered the textmessage or chat request. The Remote Tracking Request can incorporate thesale revenue entered by the Operator, as well as additional variables,such as a cost-of-sale amount. Such variables can be numeric orsubjective attributes of the User, sale, or any other aspect of theinteraction and resulting transaction. This data can be manually enteredby the Operator, such as the number and level of agents involved in theinteraction. Numeric figures can also be automatically calculated by theTracker based on predefined constants. For instance, the Tracker can usethe original chat duration or number of messages, multiplied by a presetcost-per-time or cost-per-message configured by the Operator, tocalculate the cost of sale. Furthermore, the Tracker can subtract thecost from revenues to arrive at a profit figure, and send such figure asthe transaction value, if desired.

Another embodiment, shown in FIG. 13, utilizes a similar method to theone described above with respect to FIG. 12 except that the Operator isgiven the option to update the record with financial transactions bycommunicating with the Tracker using SMS. Steps 3300-3320 are similar tosteps 3200-3220 in FIG. 12. At step 3322, following a disconnection ofthe chat or end of text message session, the Tracker can instructCommunications Provider to initiate a SMS to the Operator's telephonenumber with instructions on replying to the Tracker (e.g. “Reply with[PHONE] 202-555-0169 in beginning of SMS”) in such a way that theTracker can interpret the Operator's reply and trigger a Remote TrackingRequest. Specifically, the Operator's SMS can be sent to a telephonenumber at the Communications Provider, which can forward to a page ofcode at the Tracker. In the original text message body, the Tracker caninclude an identifying variable, such as the record ID or the User'stelephone number. When replying to the Tracker's SMS, the Operator caninclude the identifying variable, sale revenue, and similar pertinentinformation formatted according to a predetermined standard, which canallow the Tracker to utilize such data to search for the correct record,retrieve the Tracking Cookie, and initiate the Remote Tracking Request.

For instance, the Tracker can assign reserved keywords, such as PHONE,SALE, PROFIT, ID, or similar. These keywords can be formatted in adistinguishing manner, for example, enclosed in brackets, e.g. [PHONE],[SALE], [PROFIT], [ID]. the Tracker can search the SMS for the reservedkeywords, separate the text between such keywords, and use the data topopulate the relevant information for the Remote Tracking Request. Forexample, at step 3324, the Operator can reply, “[PHONE] 202-555-0169[REVENUE] $1,000 [PROFIT] $500”. At step 3326, the code at the Trackercan receive the SMS, can discern that the text between [PHONE] and[REVENUE], or 202-555-0169, is the User's telephone number, and can usethis value to search for the record and obtain the associated TrackingCookie. Using a similar method for the remaining text message body, theTracker can interpret the SMS as a need by the Operator to record a$1,000 revenue transaction with $500 profit for the Tracking Cookieassociated with 202-555-0169. the Tracker then can proceed to send tothe Analytics Account a Remote Tracking Request with the financialtransaction in step 3326. The Tracker can also combine information fromthe Operator's SMS with figures automatically calculated by the Trackerbased on predefined constants. For instance, the Operator can enter therevenue, while the Tracker can use the original chat duration or numberof text messages to calculate the cost, as described earlier.

Note that this method can also be adapted for tracking off-sitemarketing properties, as described in FIG. 9. To accomplish this, whencreating a lead record, the Tracker can generate a lead ID, anadditional variable that can later substitute for the Tracking Cookie.For the Remote Tracking Request, the Tracker can retrieve the lead IDassociated with the record, as well as the ad ID and relatedinformation, and can use this information in lieu of the Tracking Cookieand source, respectively, to initiate a Remote Tracking Request, whichcan be recorded as a financial transaction. Although a name fieldcorresponding to each source at the Tracker is described, additionalfields can be added to fully describe the source. For instance,Analytics Account could record the Document Referrer, Campaign Name,Campaign Source, Campaign Medium, Campaign Keyword, Campaign Content,and Campaign ID, among other variables. When the Analytics Accountrecords such data, the Tracker can allow the Operator to describe eachoff-site marketing activity in detail, and can populate this informationwhen sending Remote Tracking Requests related to the conversation thatwas triggered by each marketing activity.

In another embodiment, shown in FIG. 14, the Tracker communicatesremotely with a Capable Entity. This allows for text messages to routedirectly to Business, eliminating network costs incurred by the Trackerfor passing text messages through its network. Steps 4100-4116 aresimilar to steps 100-116 in FIG. 2, with the text message in step 4116forwarding to the Capable Entity, rather than the CommunicationsProvider. In step 4118, the Capable Entity can forward details of thetext to the Tracker, which can parse the body of the text message andextract the temporary code. Alternatively, the Capable Entity canextract the temporary code on its own, and forward only the code to theTracker. Step 4120 is similar to step 120 in FIG. 2, with the Trackerforwarding to the Capable Entity the record identification code.Alternatively, the Capable Entity can generate its own ID, and cancommunicate the ID to the Tracker together with the text message ortemporary code. The Tracker would store this ID as associated with itsown record ID. Thus, the systems may communicate using an ID generatedby either party.

At step 4122, the Capable Entity handles the conversation as usual.Optionally, the Capable Entity can use the record ID to source asection, or module, of the Capable Entity's dashboard from the Tracker,which can use the record ID to customize the code of such a module tothe specific record. For instance, such a module can provide the optionof applying tags, or nicknames, to a record. When submitted, the tagscan be sent to the Tracker together with the record ID, which can beused to apply the tags to the record, and can be included incommunications with the Analytics Account, as detailed below. In step4124, the Tracker can connect to the Analytics Account and query for allvisitor details associated with the label corresponding to the recordID. At step 4126, the Tracker can optionally forward such detailstogether with the record ID to Capable Entity, which can choose to storethem in its database.

Alternatively, the value of a Tracking Cookie can be included in therequest to the Tracker at step 4104. The Tracker can store the TrackingCookie as associated with the new record ID in step 4106, and can use ittogether with the ID associated with the Analytics Account to send aRemote Tracking Request to the Target Website's Analytics Account (suchas a remote trackEvent request in GOOGLE ANALYTICS) when Capable Entitycommunicates the related temporary code. This Remote Tracking Requestoptionally replaces the browser-based request in step 4110. TheAnalytics Account ID, a fixed variable, can be stored in the Tracker'sdatabase.

Yet another embodiment, shown in FIG. 15, utilizes a similar method tothe one described above with respect to FIG. 14 except that it enablestracking text messages that originate on properties other than theTarget Website. For instance, the method can be used to track textmessages that originate in e-mail campaigns, social media, and othersimilar off-site entities managed by Business. Steps 4300-4308 aresimilar to steps 700-708 in FIG. 9. The remaining steps, 4310-324, aresimilar to steps 4108-4126 in FIG. 14, with no intermediate RemoteTracking Request (step 4110). Alternatively, when creating a record, theTracker can generate a lead ID. The Tracker can later use this lead IDin lieu of the Tracking Cookie to send a Remote Tracking Request withthe ad name entered by the Operator as the visit source, allowing dataassociated with text messages from off-site sources to be recordedwithin the Analytics Account.

A final embodiment, shown in FIG. 16, utilizes a similar method to theone described above with respect to FIG. 2 except that it allowsBusiness to track custom information about each lead. Such informationcan be related to and/or inferred from the User's actions on the TargetWebsite, including a selected language, view customization, productselection, etc. This information can then be shown to the Operatorhandling the text message, and displayed in reports. Optionally, thisinformation can also be used to verify at least one of (a) the User'sidentity and (b) infer User's intentions. Thus, a Capable Entity can usethe information to automatically route the text message to theappropriate Operator.

Steps 5100-5102 are similar to steps 4100-4102 in FIG. 15. At step 5104,on page load at the Target Website, and following any subsequent touchgestures the User performs (or at preset intervals), the Target Websitecan send custom information to the Tracker through a JAVASCRIPTfunction. For instance, the User can see a Language drop-down. When theUser selects Spanish, the Target Website can pass to the Tracker avariable-value pair such as, “language=Spanish”. Multiple variable-valuepairs can be passed in an associative array. Values can be obtained fromthe array, cookies established by the Target Website, or a URL, amongother sources. When passing the variables, the Target Website caninstruct the Tracker to replace all previously stored custominformation, add to existing information, or overwrite the old variableswhile keeping the other variables intact. In step 5106, the Tracker canreceive the information and can store, or can update, its value in acookie. Variable-value pairs can be separated by a predetermineddelimiter, such as a “|” or “-” character. For instance, a cookie valuefor language=Spanish and product=cellphone can be stored as“language=Spanishlproduct=cellphone”. When the User clicks “Text” atstep 5108, a JAVASCRIPT can execute, which can collect the latest customcookie value and send it to the Tracker. The Tracker can create a newblank record in its database, associated with the Target Website, canpopulate it with the custom information, and can generate a record ID atstep 5110. The remaining steps, 5112-5130, are similar to steps4108-4126 in FIG. 15.

An exemplary schematic diagram detailing interactions between users 6040and providers is illustrated in FIG. 17. The user 6040 is representativeof a user and a browser enabled computing device, such as a computer, aportable computing tablet, a Smartphone, and the like, wherein thebrowser enabled computing device additionally includes a capability fortransmitting text messages, including Short Message Service (SMS),Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) messages, and the like). The generalconcept of the present invention is to provide a mechanism foridentifying a user or visitor to a website 6036 presented through a webserver 6030 and retaining the association between a plurality ofentities. The system and method additionally enables tracking of theuser's activities and correspondences through text messaging using thesame identifier or a similar identifier. The web server 6030 includes anetwork connected server 6032 in communication with an associated webserver digital data storage device 6034. The web server digital datastorage device 6034 stores and manages one or more websites 6036 and anyassociated data.

The user 6040 requests to view a webpage in accordance with a request6038 from a web server 6030. The web server 6030 returns sourceinformation to the user 6040 by way of a source transfer communication6049. A data management company server 6022 operated by a datamanagement company 6020 establishes a user level identifier 6026 andforwards the user level identifier 6026 to the user 6040 by way of acommunication link 6028. Information would be stored on a datamanagement company digital storage device 6024, wherein the datamanagement company digital storage device 6024 is in signalcommunication with the data management company server 6022.

The requested webpage includes at least one link for establishing a textmessaging link 6046. The text messaging recipient link 6046 includes atleast one of the tracking identifier 6015 and the user level identifier6026, which is introduced by a tracking company 6010 and/or a datamanagement company 6020. This is accomplished by placing a code snippet6016 on at least one website 6036 on the web server 6030 at anyreasonable point in time. The transfer is accomplished using a sourcetransfer communication 6049. The code snippet 6016 can be introducedprior to, during, or after the transfer of the source code of thewebsite 6036. The code snippet 6016 can be transferred to the web server6032, the user 6040, or any other suitable location to provide thedesired solution. In the exemplary embodiment, the code snippet 6016 istransferred to the user 6040 via a snippet communication link 6011.

In one exemplary solution, at least one of the tracking identifier 6015and the user level identifier 6026 is appended to the text messaginglink 6046 by the code snippet 6016 after the web page is forwarded tothe user 6040. In one variant of the process, the process can append apermanent or temporary tracking identifier to the text messaging link6046. If a temporary identifier is used, the temporary identifier isexchanged with a permanent identifier when text message 6047 is sent tothe recipient, such as an inquiry management server 6002 by way of atext message communication link 6048, the tracking company 6010 by wayof a text message communication link 6041, or any other suitablerecipient. The combination including the appended permanent identifierwould be stored as the record.

The user 6040 selects the text messaging link 6046, such as a click link6045 in the illustration, which activates a click-to-text request. Oncethe text messaging link 6046 is selected, the system initiatestransmission of a text message, including the associated user levelidentifier 6026. The combination of the text message and the user levelidentifier 6026 are submitted to the inquiry management server 6002operated by an inquiry management provider 6000. The transmitted textmessage can optionally include additional information provided by the atleast one of the user and the system. The collective receivedinformation is stored on an inquiry management digital storage device6004, wherein the inquiry management digital storage device 6004 is insignal communication with the inquiry management server 6002.

In one practice, the user 6040 is subsequently connected to an agent6050 by any suitable communication link (not shown). Examples ofcommunication links can include a text message, an e-mail, in-person, atelephone call, transfer to a different website, or any othercommunication link. In one variant, the communication between parties isaccomplished using an offline communication process. The records 6056would be generated by the agent, an automated record generation process,or any other suitable process. The agent 6050 forwards the collecteddata activity records 6056 of follow up activities to the inquirymanagement provider 6000, referenced as a user-agent activities recordstransfer 6059.

A tracking company server 6012, operated by a tracking company 6010,would transmit an application programming interface (“API”) 6019 requestto the inquiry management provider 6000 in accordance with a requestcommunication 6018. The tracking company 6010 subsequently responds byforwarding the data collected from the agent 6050 to the trackingcompany server 6012 in accordance with a data request response or datatransfer communication 6008. The tracking company 6010 collects andstores the received records 6057 on a tracking company digital datastorage device 6014. The stored records 6058, including the associateduser level identifier 6026, are forwarded to the data management company6020 for future use, wherein the conveyance of the stored records 6058is accomplished via a data transfer communication link 6017. When atracking identifier 6015 is used, the user level identifier associatedwith the tracking identifier 6015 is first located, and then used toforward the stored records 6058 to the data management company 6020.

In summary, the method overcomes deficiencies in the art by enablingchat and text messages to be tracked. The method can also be applied toother applications where off-line activities are manipulated to bepresented as on-line activities. This allows the system to capturevaluable data from the analytics system, such as visitor sourceinformation. Incorporating an ID throughout the method allows Businessto “drill down” into visitor data, attributing each interaction to aspecific marketing channel, geographic location, device, etc. Thedescribed features are not mutually exclusive; each Business can selectas few or as many of the options to fit its needs and/or preferences.

The above-described methods can be implemented in a system that caninclude one or more non-transitory computer readable storage mediumswith instructions stored thereon that when executed by a computingsystem cause the computing system to perform the above-describedoperations.

Each of the methods described herein with reference to the accompanyingfigures can be implemented as a system including one or more serversproviding data related to the website and the database, wherein eachserver comprises at least one computing system having at least one dataprocessor. The above-described methods according to the technologyintroduced here can be implemented as devices and/or systems includingmultiple devices.

For example, the methods described herein can be implemented inhardware, firmware, or as software or computer code that can be storedin a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, an RAM, a floppy disk, a harddisk, or a magneto-optical disk or computer code downloaded over anetwork originally stored on a remote recording medium or anon-transitory machine readable medium and to be stored on a localrecording medium, so that the methods described herein can be renderedin such software that is stored on the recording medium using a generalpurpose computer, or a special processor or in programmable or dedicatedhardware, such as an ASIC or FPGA. As would be understood in the art,the computer, the processor, microprocessor controller or theprogrammable hardware include memory components, e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash,etc. that can store or receive software or computer code that whenaccessed and executed by the computer, processor or hardware implementthe processing methods described herein. In addition, it would berecognized that when a general purpose computer accesses code forimplementing the processing shown herein, the execution of the codetransforms the general purpose computer into a special purpose computerfor executing the processing shown herein.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles and applications of thetechnology introduced here. For example, the term “business” is notlimited to a business but can include any entity having an online orInternet presence in the form of a website. It is to be understood thatunless otherwise indicated herein, the order in which the steps of thefigures are described is not intended to require that such steps beperformed in the order in which they are described. It is therefore tobe understood that numerous modifications can be made to theillustrative embodiments and that other arrangements can be devisedwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Itis understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to theparticular embodiments disclosed, but it is intended to covermodifications that are within the spirit and scope of the invention.Furthermore, material appearing in the background section of thespecification is not an admission that such material is prior art to theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for integrating offline activityrecords, off site activity records, and online data records, the methodcomprising steps of: establishing a group of computers including a firstcomputer system, a second computer system, a third computer system, anda fourth computer system, wherein each computer within the group ofcomputers is capable of exchanging data with at least one other computerwithin the group of computers; generating a user level identifier toidentify one of a user or a visitor, wherein the step of generating theuser level identifier is accomplished by the first computer system;presenting a web page on the second computer system, wherein the secondsystem is in communication with the first computer system, the web pagecomprising a link to initiate at least one of a text message and a chatmessage; appending the user level identifier to the at least one of thetext message and the chat message initiation link in the second computersystem; receiving data introduced into the at least one of the textmessage and the chat message using the second computer system tocomplete the at least one of the text message and the chat message;creating a record comprising the entered data and the respective userlevel identifier associated with the completed at least one of the textmessage and the chat message in the third computer system; appendinginformation to the record using the fourth computer system, wherein theinformation is collected from sources other than a website hosting theat least one of the text message and the chat message initiation link;and using the user level identifier to communicate the entered dataassociated with the completed at least one of the text message and thechat message from the third computer system to the first computersystem.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of theplurality of computers is characterized by at least one of thefollowing: wherein the first computer system is characterized as a datamanagement company, wherein the second computer system is characterizedas a user's computer system, wherein the third computer system ischaracterized as an inquiry management system, wherein the fourthcomputer system is characterized as an agent computer system having anagent entering data thereto.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein at least one of the plurality of computers is characterized byat least one of the following: wherein the group of computers includes aplurality of first computer systems; wherein the group of computersincludes a plurality of third computer systems, the same at least one ofthe text message and the chat message being communicated to at least twoof the plurality of third computer systems; wherein the group ofcomputers includes a plurality of fourth computer systems, each of theplurality of fourth computer systems acquiring information by at leastone of: (d) different agents, wherein each agent of the different agentsmanually entering information into a respective fourth computer systemof the plurality of fourth computer systems; (e) automatically, whereinat least one of the fourth computer system of the fourth computersystems automatically acquires the information; and (f) automatically,wherein at least one of the fourth computer system of the fourthcomputer systems automatically receives the information.
 4. The methodas recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality ofcomputers is characterized by at least one of the following: wherein thefirst computer system is selected from a group of first computers, thegroup comprising: (g) an advertising platform, (h) a data managementplatform, (i) a publishing service, (j) a content management system, (k)a content optimization service, or (l) a generic computer system thatissues user-level identifiers; wherein the second computer system ischaracterized as a user's computer system; wherein the third computersystem is selected from a group of third computers, the groupcomprising: (g) a customer relationship management system, (h) an emailmarketing system, (i) a marketing automation system, (j) a textmessaging management system, (k) a chat messaging management system, and(l) a generic system used to track and record information about incominginquiries and ensuing activity; wherein the fourth computer system isselected from a group of fourth computers, the group comprising: (c) acomputer or mobile device having information entered manually by anagent, (d) a computer or mobile device having information enteredautomatically, and (e) a computer or mobile device receiving informationautomatically.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprisingsteps of: defining the record comprising the entered data and therespective user level identifier associated with the completed at leastone of the text message and the chat message in the third computersystem as an original record; creating a subsequent record based uponthe original record; associating the created subsequent record with theoriginally generated record; and using the user level identifier tocommunicate the entered data associated with the subsequent record fromthe third computer system to the first computer system.
 6. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the first computer system comprises aplurality of first computer systems, the method further comprising stepsof: referencing the user level identifier as a first user levelidentifier; generating at least one second user level identifier toidentify a same one of the user or the visitor, wherein the step ofgenerating the at least one second user level identifier is accomplishedby any of the first computer systems of the plurality of first computersystems; and appending each of the at least one second user levelidentifier to the at least one of the text message and the chat message.7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of appending theuser level identifier to the at least one of the text message and thechat message is accomplished by appending the user level identifier asone of: (d) a prefix of a data string generated from the at least one ofthe text message and the chat message; (e) an intermediary segment of adata string generated from the at least one of the text message and thechat message; or (f) a suffix of a data string generated from the atleast one of the text message and the chat message.
 8. A method forintegrating offline activity records, off site activity records, andonline data records, the method comprising steps of: establishing agroup of computers including a first computer system, a second computersystem, a third computer system, a fourth computer system, and a fifthcomputer system, wherein each computer within the group of computers iscapable of exchanging data with at least one other computer within thegroup of computers; generating a user level identifier to identify oneof a user or a visitor, wherein the step of generating the user levelidentifier is accomplished by the first computer system; communicatingthe user level identifier from the first computer system to the fifthcomputer system; generating a tracking identifier, wherein the trackingidentifier is generated by the fifth computer system; defining andmanaging an association between the tracking identifier and the userlevel identifier; presenting a web page on the second computer system,wherein the second system is in communication with the first computersystem, the web page comprising a link to initiate at least one of atext message and a chat message; appending the tracking identifier tothe at least one of a text message and a chat message initiation link inthe second computer system; receiving data entered into the at least oneof the text message and the chat message initiation link using thesecond computer system to complete the at least one of the text messageand the chat message; creating a record comprising the entered data andthe respective tracking identifier associated with the completed atleast one of the text message and the chat message in the third computersystem; appending information to the record using the fourth computersystem, wherein the information is collected from sources other than awebsite hosting the at least one of the text message and the chatmessage initiation link; using the tracking identifier to retrieve theentered data associated with the completed at least one of the textmessage and the chat message from the third computer system; locatingthe user level identifier associated with the tracking identifier; andusing the user level identifier to communicate the retrieved data to thefirst computer system.
 9. The method as recited in claim 8, furthercomprising steps of: defining the record comprising the entered data andthe respective tracking identifier associated with the completed atleast one of the text message and the chat message in the third computersystem as an original record; creating a subsequent record based uponthe original record; associating the created subsequent record with theoriginally generated record; and using the user level identifier tocommunicate the entered data associated with the subsequent record fromthe third computer system to the first computer system.
 10. The methodas recited in claim 8, further comprising steps of: defining the recordcomprising the entered data and the respective user level identifierassociated with the completed at least one of the text message and thechat message in the third computer system as an original record;creating a subsequent record based upon the original record; associatingthe created subsequent record with the originally generated record;using the tracking identifier to retrieve the entered data associatedwith the subsequent record from the third computer system; locating theuser level identifier associated with the tracking identifier; and usingthe user level identifier to communicate the retrieved data to the firstcomputer system.
 11. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein at leastone of the plurality of computers is characterized by at least one ofthe following: wherein the first computer system is characterized as adata management company, wherein the second computer system ischaracterized as a user's computer system, wherein the third computersystem is characterized as an inquiry management system, wherein thefourth computer system is characterized as an agent computer systemhaving an agent entering data thereto.
 12. The method as recited inclaim 8, wherein at least one of the plurality of computers ischaracterized by at least one of the following: wherein the group ofcomputers includes a plurality of first computer systems; wherein thegroup of computers includes a plurality of third computer systems, thesame at least one of the text message and the chat message beingcommunicated to at least two of the plurality of third computer systems;wherein the group of computers includes a plurality of fourth computersystems, each of the plurality of fourth computer systems acquiringinformation by at least one of: (a) different agents, wherein each agentof the different agents manually entering information into a respectivefourth computer system of the plurality of fourth computer systems; (b)automatically, wherein at least one of the fourth computer system of thefourth computer systems automatically acquires the information; and (c)automatically, wherein at least one of the fourth computer system of thefourth computer systems automatically receives the information.
 13. Themethod as recited in claim 8, wherein at least one of the plurality ofcomputers is characterized by at least one of the following: wherein thefirst computer system is selected from a group of first computers, thegroup comprising: (a) an advertising platform, (b) a data managementplatform, (c) a publishing service, (d) a content management system, (e)a content optimization service, or (f) a generic computer system thatissues user-level identifiers; wherein the second computer system ischaracterized as a user's computer system; wherein the third computersystem is selected from a group of third computers, the groupcomprising: (a) a customer relationship management system, (b) an emailmarketing system, (c) a marketing automation system, (d) a textmessaging management system, (e) a chat messaging management system, and(f) a generic system used to track and record information about incominginquiries and ensuing activity; wherein the fourth computer system isselected from a group of fourth computers, the group comprising: (a) acomputer or mobile device having information entered manually by anagent, (b) a computer or mobile device having information enteredautomatically, and (c) a computer or mobile device receiving informationautomatically.
 14. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the firstcomputer system comprises a plurality of first computer systems, themethod further comprising steps of: referencing the user levelidentifier as a first user level identifier; generating at least onesecond user level identifier to identify a same one of the user or thevisitor, wherein the step of generating the at least one second userlevel identifier is accomplished by any of the first computer systems ofthe plurality of first computer systems; and associating each at leastone second user level identifier with the tracking identifier.
 15. Themethod as recited in claim 8, wherein the step of appending the trackinglevel identifier to the text message is accomplished by appending thetracking level identifier as one of: (a) a prefix of a data stringgenerated from the at least one of the text message and the chatmessage; (b) an intermediary segment of a data string generated from theat least one of the text message and the chat message; or (c) a suffixof a data string generated from the at least one of the text message andthe chat message.
 16. A method for integrating offline activity records,off site activity records, and online data records, the methodcomprising steps of: establishing a group of computers including a firstcomputer system, a second computer system, a third computer system, afourth computer system, and a fifth computer system, wherein eachcomputer within the group of computers is capable of exchanging datawith at least one other computer within the group of computers;generating a user level identifier to identify one of a user or avisitor, wherein the step of generating the user level identifier isaccomplished by the first computer system; communicating the user levelidentifier from the first computer system to the fifth computer system;generating a temporary, non-unique identifier, wherein the temporary,non-unique identifier is generated by the fifth computer system;defining and managing an association between the temporary, non-uniqueidentifier and the user level identifier; presenting a web page on thesecond computer system, wherein the second system is in communicationwith the first computer system, the web page comprising a link toinitiate at least one of the text message and the chat message;appending the temporary, non-unique identifier to the at least one ofthe text message and the chat message initiation link in the secondcomputer system; receiving data entered into the at least one of thetext message and the chat message initiation link using the secondcomputer system to complete the at least one of the text message and thechat message; creating a record comprising the entered data and therespective temporary identifier associated with the completed at leastone of the text message and the chat message in the third computersystem; appending information to the record using the fourth computersystem, wherein the information is collected from sources other than awebsite hosting the at least one of the text message and the chatmessage initiation link; generating a permanent, unique identifier inthe fifth computer system; replacing the temporary identifier with apermanent, unique identifier in the association and each recordassociated with a completed at least one of the text message and thechat message; using the permanent, unique identifier to retrieve theentered data associated with the completed at least one of the textmessage and the chat message from the third computer system; locatingthe user level identifier associated with the permanent, uniqueidentifier; and using the user level identifier to communicate theretrieved data to the first computer system.
 17. The method as recitedin claim 16, further comprising steps of: defining the record comprisingthe entered data and the respective tracking level identifier associatedwith the completed at least one of the text message and the chat messagein the third computer system as an original record; creating asubsequent record based upon the original record; associating thecreated subsequent record with the originally generated record; andusing the user level identifier to communicate the entered dataassociated with the subsequent record from the third computer system tothe first computer system.
 18. The method as recited in claim 16,further comprising steps of: defining the record comprising the entereddata and the respective tracking level identifier associated with thecompleted at least one of the text message and the chat message in thethird computer system as an original record; creating a subsequentrecord based upon the original record; associating the createdsubsequent record with the originally generated record; using thepermanent, unique identifier to retrieve the entered data associatedwith the completed at least one of the text message and the chat messagefrom the third computer system; locating the user level identifierassociated with the permanent, unique identifier; and using the userlevel identifier to communicate the retrieved data to the first computersystem.
 19. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein at least one ofthe plurality of computers is characterized by at least one of thefollowing: wherein the first computer system is characterized as a datamanagement company, wherein the second computer system is characterizedas a user's computer system, wherein the third computer system ischaracterized as an inquiry management system, wherein the fourthcomputer system is characterized as an agent computer system having anagent entering data thereto.
 20. The method as recited in claim 16,wherein at least one of the plurality of computers is characterized byat least one of the following: wherein the group of computers includes aplurality of first computer systems; wherein the group of computersincludes a plurality of third computer systems, the same at least one ofthe text message and the chat message being submitted at least two ofthe plurality of third computer systems; wherein the group of computersincludes a plurality of fourth computer systems, each of the pluralityof fourth computer systems acquiring information by at least one of: (a)different agents, wherein each agent of the different agents manuallyentering information into a respective fourth computer system of theplurality of fourth computer systems; (b) automatically, wherein atleast one of the fourth computer system of the fourth computer systemsautomatically acquires the information; and (c) automatically, whereinat least one of the fourth computer system of the fourth computersystems automatically receives the information.
 21. The method asrecited in claim 16, wherein at least one of the plurality of computersis characterized by at least one of the following: wherein the firstcomputer system is selected from a group of first computers, the groupcomprising: (a) an advertising platform, (b) a data management platform,(c) a publishing service, (d) a content management system, (e) a contentoptimization service, or (f) a generic computer system that issuesuser-level identifiers; wherein the second computer system ischaracterized as a user's computer system; wherein the third computersystem is selected from a group of third computers, the groupcomprising: (a) a customer relationship management system, (b) an emailmarketing system, (c) a marketing automation system, (d) a textmessaging management system, (e) a chat messaging management system, and(f) a generic system used to track and record information about incominginquiries and ensuing activity; wherein the fourth computer system isselected from a group of fourth computers, the group comprising: (a) acomputer or mobile device having information entered manually by anagent, (b) a computer or mobile device having information enteredautomatically, and (c) a computer or mobile device receiving informationautomatically.
 22. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the firstcomputer system comprises a plurality of first computer systems, themethod further comprising steps of: referencing the user levelidentifier as a first user level identifier; generating at least onesecond user level identifier to identify a same one of the user or thevisitor, wherein the step of generating the at least one second userlevel identifier is accomplished by any of the first computer systems ofthe plurality of first computer systems; and associating each at leastone second user level identifier with the tracking identifier.
 23. Themethod as recited in claim 16, wherein the step of appending thetracking level identifier to the text message is accomplished byappending the tracking level identifier as one of: (a) a prefix of adata string generated from the at least one of the text message and thechat message; (b) an intermediary segment of a data string generatedfrom the at least one of the text message and the chat message; or (c) asuffix of a data string generated from the at least one of the textmessage and the chat message.